Our first-ever reader’s choice awards, Global Tastemakers, honor the top culinary locations both domestically and overseas. F&W readers cast their votes for places to eat and drink, cities, hotels, airports, airlines, and cruises based on trips taken within the previous three years. The winners of this year’s Global Tastemakers competition represent a narrower region of the world due to the restrictions of pandemic travel. We’re putting an editor’s choice in many categories to draw attention to some additional must-visit culinary locations.
1. Karv Kitchen, Atlanta, Georgia
Karv Kitchen, a family-run Greek restaurant north of Atlanta, is popular with both residents and visitors. The loukoubombs, a European-style donut that is bite-sized, golden brown, and the ideal way to end a meal (with a cup of coffee, especially), are the stuff of legends. The rotisserie meats are beautifully prepared. Our first-ever reader’s choice awards, Global Tastemakers, honor the top culinary locations both domestically and overseas. F&W readers cast their votes for places to eat and drink, cities, hotels, airports, airlines, and cruises based on trips taken within the previous three years.
2. Addison, San Diego
Grant Achatz’s temple of molecular gastronomy has held three stars ever since Michelin first visited the Windy City for its 2011 edition. Alinea’s modernist cuisine is greatly influenced by his time at Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli, which uses tastes from all over the world—one course can be a chicken thigh with Mexican spices, while another would be a rare Japanese fish—and is also a product of his training. In the restaurant, food is dehydrated, treated with liquid nitrogen, and you can even be served an edible balloon as an example of cutting-edge cooking methods.
3. Lulu
Lulu, a restaurant run by chef David Tanis and created with the famed Alice Waters, is tucked away in the heart of the Hammer Museum and has a tranquil patio. The lunch menu is a three-course market menu that frequently includes a veggie-driven starter, entree, and dessert. The dinner menu dishes highlight seasonal ingredients in an understated yet elegant way, ranging from housemade pasta to exquisitely prepared fish specials. Even the cocktail menu is inspired by fresh market ingredients, changing based on what’s available and displaying seasonal fruits.
4. Outstanding Cuisine + Bread
This past October, Superba Food + Bread occupied the large, venerable Cat & Fiddle location on Sunset Boulevard. The 2,000-square-foot courtyard has a lovingly preserved wishing well from the late 1920s. Diners experience a sense of being on a Mediterranean vacation thanks to the abundance of greenery, the French bistro chairs, and the large yellow-striped patio umbrellas. The restaurant is open all day and offers a walk-up coffee and pastry counter, a raw bar with freshly shucked oysters, a full dinner menu, and a cocktail list. Be on the lookout for once-weekly supper specials, such as Fried Chicken on Sundays.
5.Bolivian Llama Party
By the Oropeza brothers, the restaurant opened its doors in 2012. Modern Bolivian food is offered there. New Yorkers may get contemporary Bolivian cuisine at the Bolivian Llama Party restaurant. The New York Times, Eater, Gothamist, CNN, and TimeOut have all given the restaurant praise for its Bolivian food. By using their artistic talents in their crafts, the Oropeza brothers hope to promote Bolivia’s gastronomic heritage on a global scale. Through their playful and imaginative efforts in their trade, the brothers hope to bring Bolivia’s rich culinary legacy to the attention of the globe.
6. Ariari
East Village is where this restaurant is located in New York. It is a Korean eatery that takes its design cues from Busan, a port city. Fresh seafood and hearty Korean cuisine are among its most well-known offerings. The restaurant is proud of creating its own path, and the word “Ariari,” which means “pave your own way,” is a Korean proverb. Our distinct vision of Korean cuisine, particularly that of Busan, is presented at the restaurant to New Yorkers. With the new culture, the restaurant hopes to impress its patrons. It offers a variety of meals and drinks.
Final Thoughts
As the restaurant sector was decimated by the pandemic, Michelin backed off. The guides it had planned to print for Washington, D.C., New York, and Chicago were delayed until the spring, while the California guide had a gap between publish dates of more than two years. The two- and three-star levels of the culinary bible avoided downgradings for the most part during that time, with the exception of closures or concept changes. Michelin, however, made a triumphant comeback in 2022 and began rating eateries all throughout the nation.
